NFL

Back From the Edge: Renewed Trust in James Fueling Arizona's Offense

Posted Jan 25, 2009 7:15PM By Chris Burke (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Arizona Cardinals, Steelers, AFC North, NFC West, NFL Playoffs

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Edgerrin JamesFred Jackson, Ernest Graham, Fred Taylor, Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes. Those are the five running backs that finished No. 37-41 in rushing yards during the NFL's regular season – all ahead of the league's 42nd-leading rusher, Arizona's Edgerrin James.

Here's the list of guys with more postseason rushing yards than James: No one.

James has an NFL-leading 203 yards in the playoffs, 10 more than Pittsburgh's Willie Parker. Granted, James has played three postseason games – one more than Parker, and a number matched at the running back spot only by Baltimore's Willis McGahee and Le'Ron McClain and James' teammate Tim Hightower.

The fact that James has 71 more yards and 18 more carries than Hightower -- who the Cards replaced James with in the starting lineup early in the season -- is noteworthy in itself, though.

To put James' playoff numbers in perspective, one must appreciate his regular-season trials. From Week 4 through Week 16, the Cardinals' once-and-current king totaled 166 yards rushing. Twelve weeks, 166 yards. Over that stretch, James ran the ball just 57 times – and, had it not been for a 21-carry, 57-yard performance in a Week 5 win over Buffalo, those numbers would have bottomed out even further.

James now has 52 rushing attempts in Arizona's Super Bowl run. These numbers are too skewed to be coincidental: the Cardinals are winning because James is getting the ball.

And to beat Pittsburgh, they'll need to continue employing that strategy.

"You throw the ball 50 times and you run it nine of 10 times, you are most likely not going to have a good rushing game," James told the Associated Press.

"I've always played the game a certain way. ... I'm no scatback. I never tried to be."



Hightower fits that profile better, which is why he's proven a valuable weapon in Arizona's attack. Still, you cannot ignore the stability that a between-the-tackles runner like James can bring to the table. Heck, the guy rushed for more than 1,200 yards last season alone.

Maybe this is part of why Arizona surprised everyone this postseason. What the Cardinals are doing, how they are meshing the run and pass, well, they haven't really done that since adding James in 2006.

James hit 100 yards on the nose twice this season (never eclipsed it) -- in Week 1 against San Francisco, and in Week 17 against Seattle. Hightower, after he took over the starting duties, broke the century mark just once, piling up 109 yards in a Week 9 shellacking of lowly St. Louis.

But now, Arizona is truly committing to James as its top back and Hightower as its change-of-pace guy -- and the Cardinals have eclipsed 100 rushing yards in their past two playoff wins.

How loyal Arizona stays to the successful strategy in the Super Bowl may make or break this thing. If a team, any team, cannot put a balanced offensive attack on the field against the Steelers defense, that team cannot win. Baltimore was able to run a bit on Pittsburgh, but couldn't pass. San Diego threw the ball well, but couldn't run.

Arizona will meet a fate like that of the Chargers if they put forth a similar effort. It doesn't matter that Kurt Warner's playing well and Larry Fitzgerald is making defenders look like Pop Warner players; you could line up Johnny Unitas in the shotgun with Jerry Rice, Steve Largeant and Lynn Swann lined up at wide receiver, and this Steelers defense would make it hard to move the ball.

Pittsburgh's defensive line is very solid, and the Steelers may be the best team in the league at punishing the quarterback with blitzes. It's common belief that the best way to slow a blitzing team is to find the gaps – then blow through them with a hard-charging running back.

After a full regular season, the Cardinals seem to have realized that they have a guy that fits that bill.

It is no surprise that Warner is receiving so much attention for defibrillating his career, but his is not the only tale of revival in Arizona.

How James' return to prominence concludes might well be the key factor for the Cardinals' Super Bowl hopes.

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